March 4, 2018 by Heather

How to Beat the Bloat

It’s not uncommon to wake up in the morning with the flattest tum and sculpted waistline, only to find yourself looking like you’re 3 months pregnant by the evening. And the timing of our bloated belly couldn’t come at a worse time as that is usually the social time of the day when we’re trying to slip into a little party dress and head out for the night!

Not only does abdominal bloating look bad in that little number we’re trying to put on, but it also brings with it a lot of physical discomforts. The good news is that research suggests this common problem is a condition that is easy to avoid.

What Causes Bloating?

It is a common myth that bloating in the stomach for a healthy adult comes from fluid accumulation. Temporary bloating is caused by intestinal gas and is something that most people have from time to time. Some chronic cases of chronic bloating are caused by a medical condition such as liver or heart disease.

And no matter how many sit-ups or crunches we try to do during the day, it’s not going to force our tummy to go down. A lot of it has to do with our eating habits and lack of physical activity.

Here are a few basic causes:

Constipation

Not enough exercise and too little fiber or fluids can lead to constipation, which in turn is responsible for bloating and stomach discomfort. If you’ve made an effort to up your intake of fiber but are still constipated and suffering from a bloated belly, then it’s probably because you’re not balancing it out with enough fluids.

Carbonated Drinks

Fizzy drinks are not only full of sugar (even the diet ones) but they can also cause gas to get trapped inside your belly. If a flavored drink is what you’re looking for, try adding a slice of lime, lemon, or cucumber to water instead of a fizzy drink.

Too Much Sodium

Processed food has barely any fiber and is loaded with sodium, which causes bloating. Always eat fresh by preparing meals yourself with plenty of whole foods, and when looking for frozen or canned foods, choose items that say’s “low sodium” totally no more than 1,500-2,000 mg of sodium per day.

What You Can Do to Ease the Symptom of Bloating

If you often find yourself bloated even when taken every precaution such as, limiting sodium, avoiding fizzy drinks, eating plenty of fiber and drinking plenty of water – there are still a few things you can do to ease the bloat.

Some studies suggest taking anti-bloating teas and foods to help fight bloating. This includes peppermint tea, ginger tea, fennel tea, hibiscus tea, lemon tea or chamomile tea to name just a few.

Studies also that eating plenty of gut loving foods such as probiotics found in yogurt or fermented foods can keep the stomach happy. Adding parsley and fresh mint to your food helps as well, and tastes great, too!

January 20, 2018 by Heather

Fat-loss vs. Weight-loss

The festive season is nearly finished and you might be tempted to step on the scale to see how many extra pounds you’ve gained and how many you’re hoping to lose.
Whatever you do, don’t start to panic. You ate what you ate, and you may or may not have kept up with your exercising. If there was any time of the year to sit back and enjoy life a little, it was now! If it’s any reassurance, you’re not alone!!!

Now the festive season has passed and the New Year is around the corner. But before you step on the scale and start to panic about the extra pudge around your belly – concocting an immediate “weight loss” diet of water and kale – let’s get a couple of facts straight.

Weight loss vs. Fat loss

We’re going to break down a hot topic term here which people seem to use interchangeably. “Weight-loss vs. fat-loss.”

Weight Loss – means lowering your body-weight, this includes the weight of your organs, bones, muscles, body fat, water, etc.

Fat Loss – means lowering the amount of body fat your body carries.

Misled by the Scale

There is a huge difference between losing fat and losing weight. For the average person, your goal should be to lose fat, not weight. Most people are misled by the scale and focus way too much on how much they weigh.

When you lose weight, you lose fat, muscle, fluids, etc. So, if your focus is seeing those lbs drop when stepping on the scale you may be losing important muscle – not fat.

Of course, in some cases, such as obesity, your goal is to also lose weight, but you want the majority of your weight loss to be fat, not weight.

Measuring your body fat according to the scale alone is an inefficient way to tell if you need to lose extra body fat. Another thing to consider is that muscle weighs more than fat, which means if you’re toning up and building muscle, chances are you may step on the scale and be surprised that you’re heavier than when you started. This is because you gained valuable muscle.

Replace Your Scale with Weights and Look Healthy

If you are seriously obese then you may want to keep the scales close by to monitor your general weight loss goal. But if you want to want to look and feel healthy put away those scales and pick up some weights!

Losing weight alone can leave you looking “skinny fat” because you have no muscle tone underneath for the skin to stick to. Start lifting weights and focus on losing fat and building muscle instead of losing weight!

January 5, 2018 by Heather

Incorporating Fitness into your Day

It’s human nature to feel too tired or lazy to exercise. To make excuses for why we can’t exercise in the first place. And to be honest it’s not easy sometimes to fit it into our day.

Our schedules are busy, our days are long, and when the day is done and dusted all we want to do is pour ourselves a nice glass of red and sit back and watch a few episodes of our favorite TV show!

Dedicating even just 25 minutes a day is sometimes difficult so we put it off for tomorrow, but then tomorrow comes and we still haven’t exercised.

Focus on Health and Strength

Many people get discouraged about their health and fitness goals when they step on the scale. They put too much emphasis on weight loss, rather than the gratitude they get from the joys of exercise and movement.

Forget the scale, and think about how you feel after a good workout. Find your motivation to exercise from the exhilaration you feel from getting out in the fresh air for a jog, or from a fun weekly dance fitness class.

Taking the time to connect with exercise on an emotional level will help you achieve your fitness goals in the long run, and you’ll begin to love it again.

Fitting It In

Think of exercise as something you just can’t live without, like food and water. This way you’ll commit to daily exercise and add to it your schedule just like any other appointment.

Develop a “move more” attitude by reminding your body to get more movement throughout the day in everything you do. Sit less, walk more. Park far from stores, and squat to pick something up.

Finding the Motivation

Some of the biggest reasons for not exercising are that we don’t have the proper motivation. Motivation can come in the form of a personal trainer or a regular weekly fitness class that you have to attend.

Fitness apps can be very motivational as it’s something you can follow and do just about anywhere. If you feel like exercising in the park, all you need is your app, a good spot, and a positive attitude!

There are plenty of health apps that record your daily steps, what you’ve eaten during the day, and how many hours you’ve slept. Seeing that you’ve only taken 600 steps in the day get you motivated to get out for a walk and see it change to the thousands. If you are interested in using a fitness app, reach out to me to learn more about Beachbody On Demand.